Idyll Chatter: False Start

I posted a few weeks ago about how I had started to write Idyll Book 3 from the middle out. (I’m sure the boys at Pied Piper would be proud!) Well, that was a over a month ago, and since then I’ve returned to the proper beginning of the book, and I’ve been treading forward, building characterization and tension (I hope) that will lead to that midway climax that changes the rest of the book.

I knew what characters I needed to inject into the story, where I needed them to be at the midway point, and what new scenarios I had to set in place. So I diligently set to work. Perhaps that was partly where I ran into a problem. Or at least my focus prevented me from seeing the problem, at least for a while. Unfortunately, after writing those first five-or-six chapter, I realized that the process was feeling a little too much like ‘work.’

The first few chapters were coming out boring!

Too much sci-fi exposition. Too much dwelling in the past. Honestly, probably too much characterization—too much angst and hopefulness and mushiness and all that stuff. And no action. In fact, my first outline contained a few twists and interesting reveals in the beginning, but the first real action scene didn’t happen till maybe 15% in.

So I backtracked and started again. And I think EXILE is going to be much better because of it. I’ve moved up the first big action scene, so it starts to happen while we’re still coming to grips with our heroes’ new status quo. And a few dangling, sci-fi-ish threads are twined together and explained (hopefully smoothly, in a way that won’t make more action-oriented fans lose interest). Also, a critical new character is introduced during the action.

And another character was excised from the plot altogether. Readers of the series hopefully recognize the name ‘Arbiter.’ I had this character arrive in our heroes’ new home and spend a few tense (but wordy) chapters with our heroes before any action begins. Now, the Arbiter will have a much more scaled-back role (but still essential), and a portion of that story will be told through Interludes.

So there you have it! Thank goodness so far I’ve been working in a gap-writing style, so I didn’t waste too much time on my false start. I believe I’m back on track with a story that will be much more enjoyable, middle, ending, and beginning. I’m hoping to have the first draft done my the end of October.

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2 thoughts on “Idyll Chatter: False Start”

Seems like everyone has a different process for writing. Here’s a post from one of my favorite writers re her process: http://www.kameronhurley.com/?s=writing. I have to write a lot for work. Thesis writing vs fiction, but tend to write more like you do. The meat of the topic to the end first, the beginning last.

Cool. That’s not a bad idea to skip to the ending if you’re stuck in the middle. For my first three novels, I started at the beginning, following a rough outline. But I would always hit a snag (usually a plot-hole that I didn’t see until I was standing with ten toes dangling over the edge of it), and then I’d have to go back and rewrite big portions of the beginning to get myself back on track. So this time I started at that middle scene so I could have a clearer picture of how to get there.

Although I think I have a sentimental/superstitious thing about the very last scene of a novel. I don’t want to write that until very last. Cap off the first draft properly, and then treat myself to a celebratory burrito!